Apparatus for fermenting wort.



PATENTED DEC. 18, 1906.

H. A. SOHALK. APPARATUS FOR FERMBNTING WORT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2.1906.

1n: NORRIS PETERS cm, WASHINGTON, a c.

HERMANN A. SGHALK, OF NEI/V YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR FEFHVIENTING WORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 18, 1906.

Application filed June 2,1906. Serial No. 319,819.

To a, whom/ it nutg com/awn.-

Be it known that I, HERMANN A. SOHALK, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, Manhattan, county and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Fermenting \Vort, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for fermenting wort by which the fermenting process is greatly simplified and expedited. The process carried on in this apparatus forms the subject-matter of a separate application for a patent filed by me April 17, 1906, under Serial No. 312,107.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of an apparatus embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of one of the tubs.

A series of fermenting-tubs 3 4 5 6 7 8, made, preferably, of wood or enameled steel, are installed in the fermentingcellar, side by side, each fermenting-tub being of sufiicient size to accommodate the entire brew of one day. The tubs are of cylindrical form and are mounted on supports 9 in a substantially horizontal position, having, however, a slight forward dip, as shownthat is to say, each tub is placed upon its side, where it is engaged by the supports 9, while its heads 10 and 19 extend in an approximately upright direction. Thus each tub has a curved bottom, a curved top, and straight ends.

The front head 10 of each tub is provided with a manhole and cover 11 and with one or two spring-valves 12, located at about onequarter the height of the beer in the tub. Each spring-valve is of the ordinary construction and serves to automatically close a discharge-opening in the tub when a hose is uncoupled therefrom. When, however, the hose is coupled to the tub, the former will antomatically open the valve against the action of the spring. Head 10 is further provided with one or two lower spring-valves 13, arranged slightly above the bottom and with one or more removable observation-glasses 14 above the liquid-level. Through the bottom of head 10 enters the aerating cook or nozzle 15 of a compressed-air pipe 16, which projects into the forward or lower end of an inclined tube 17. This tube is arranged longitudinally within the tub along its curved bottom and below the liquid-level is open at both ends and has an upward inclination from the front toward the rear of the tub to induce a natural flow of air through said tube. The bottom of the tub is provided near its forward end with a wash-out nipple 18.

The rear head 19 may be provided with one or more spring-valves 20, that cooperate with valves 13 for rapidly emptying the tub. A combined air-inlet and gas-outlet nozzle 21, having cock 22, connects with the upper rear end of the tub above the liquid-level.

The operation is as follows: The unfermented brew of the first day is run into tub 3 and pitched with yeast. After eighteen to forty-eight hours, (depending upon the temperature of the beer and the quantity of yeast used,) when the yeast has begun to grow and multiply, tub 3 is half emptied into tub 4, through spring-valves 12 and hose-couplings 28. The brew from the second day is then run into tub 3 and also into tub 1 to fill both tubs to about the level 24. The yeast will thus again vigorously multiply and develop in the tubs. After again eighteen to forty-eight hours, tub 4 is half emptied into tub 5, and tubs 4 and 5 are filled up with the unfermented brew of the third day. This operation is continued successively for tubs 6, 7, and 8, half of the fermented contents of the last tub being run into tub 3, which has previously been emptied, as hereinafter described. In this way a complete cycle is established, each tub serving to produce the beer for one of the days of a week. Of course the number of tubs may be varied according to the duration of the fermentation and the output of the brewery. After a tub-say tub 3has been half emptied of the fermented liquid and filled up with fresh brew in the manner described, the beer is aerated during the first two days by forcing pure air through nozzle 15 into tube 17. This air should enter tube 17 under about twenty pounds pressure, so that the tube acts similar to an injector. The wort is thus drawn into the mouth of the tube, becomes mixed with the air, and escapes at the back of the tube, such movement of the wort and air through the tube being facilitated by the upward inclination of the latter. In this way there is created a lively circulation of the wort, and an intimate and uniform mixture of wort and air, thus producing perfect aeration of the beer. On

the third and fourth days the cock 22 is opened to permit the carbonic-acid gas generated to escape, while during the last two days the observation-glasses 14 are removed and the nipple 21 is coupled to a purified air supply. Pure air is now forced through nipple 21 into the tub to pass over the surface of the beer, while the last carbonic-acid gas is ejected through the openings formed by removing the observation-glasses 14. The fermentation being now completed, the tub is emptied through valves 13 and 20 and is washed out through nozzle 18. As the tub inclines from the rear toward the front, the

yeast and the washing-water can be easily removed through the nozzle. The contents of tub 4 are on the next day subjected to the treatment described, and so on through the entire series, so that each tub furnishes the 'beer for one day of the week, as desired.

What I-claim'is 1. An apparatus for fermenting wort comprising a cycle of cylindrical tubs placed with their arms in a substantially horizontal plane, valve-controlled means for connecting advalve-controlled means for connecting adjoining tubs below the liquid-level, an inclined open pipe extending along the bottom of each tub, and an air-injector communicating with the lower end of said pipe, substan tially as specified.

Signed by me at New York city, Manhat- 1* tan, New York, this 31st day of May, 1906.

HERMANN A. SOHALK.

Witnesses:

WM. OsTNER, PAUL STERNAL. 

